brevet

(brə-vĕt', brĕv'ĭt)
n.
A commission promoting a military officer in rank without an increase in pay.

tr.v., -vet·ted, or -vet·ed, -vet·ting, or -vet·ing, -vets, or -vets.
To promote by brevet.

[Middle English, official letter, from Anglo-Norman, diminutive of bref, letter, from Latin brevis, short. See brief.]

brevetcy bre·vet'cy (brə-vĕt'sē) n.

(bre-VET)

noun
A commission promoting a military officer to a higher rank without a corresponding increase in pay.

verb tr.
To promote in rank without a pay increase.

adjective
Having a higher rank without an increase in pay.

Etymology
From Middle English, literally little letter, from Middle French, from Old French, diminutive of brief (letter), from Latin brevis (short). Other words that have descended from the same Latin root are abbreviate, abridge, brevity, breve, and brumal.

Usage
"Fuller served in the first-ever British Tank Corps as a brevet colonel, but soon fell afoul of military brass over what he saw as its ruinous attachment to `body warfare' over the superior `brain'-driven maneuverability that the age of the tank heralded." — Chris Lehmann, Rolling Thunder, The Washington Post, May 12, 2002.

---

Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a document entitling a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily (but without higher pay)

---

The verb brevet has one meaning:

Meaning #1: promote somebody by brevet, in the military

---

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)